tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30773139316985046322014-10-07T04:02:24.880+01:00Home is where the heart isManihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-77697287411785445342013-02-05T19:56:00.001+00:002013-02-05T20:14:22.411+00:00Curry #3After a fun session at an Indian cookery class at the weekend, I thought I'd give my new skills a whirl. On tonight's menu was lamb and potato curry (adapted from a pork and potato curry taught on the day) and pilau rice. If there's one thing I can tell you before you start, check the levels of spices in your spice jars. I have embarrassingly run out of turmeric and have had to improvise a littleManihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-33431735246349717112012-04-12T22:14:00.001+01:002012-04-12T22:22:54.211+01:00Veggie or chicken fajitas with salsa and guacamoleI started making these as a reliable and very tasty meal for when we have vegans or veggies round for tea. Jonno usually insists on some kind of meat for his evening meal (can't take the Nottingham out of the boy) but they're simple and tasty to make either way. The recipe makes enough sides for two people (so double up for company) but there's enough of the main event to give leftovers for Manihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-65589275447995978012010-10-29T23:10:00.001+01:002010-10-29T23:11:47.983+01:00Poussins - the very little chickens
Sorry to any veggie readers of this blog. Tonight was all about the main event, roast poussins with root veg mash and steamed broccoli.
So I had a couple of poussins hanging around that needed eating up, and my sister came over tonight to discuss the world and everything in it. I thought they'd make a nice and very filling one course supper - she is the size of a twig, and there was no way Manihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-2587528462272118482010-10-28T20:28:00.039+01:002010-10-28T21:28:56.971+01:00Christmas cakeryI love making Christmas cake. I actually love making pretty much every kind of cake, but there's something very special about that luscious dark fruit cake virtually marinaded in brandy. The smells when it's cooking... the anticipation as you feed it a little more liquor each week to keep it moist... then the faff of marzipanning it a week before the big event and finally icing and decorating it Manihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-4884738787349969002010-10-27T00:29:00.018+01:002010-10-27T00:50:11.400+01:00Vegetarian pre-Halloween feastWell it's the 26th October, close enough to Halloween for some pumpkin carving.
Looks quite demonic balanced on my soup plate, doesn't it? I carved the mouth too low this year and didn't want to burn the table.
My friends Frances and Ollie were coming over for dinner tonight, and so having had a week off, thought it would be a nice opportunity to try out some new vegetarian recipes on them (or Manihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-44736995845765220592010-10-25T18:18:00.000+01:002010-10-25T18:18:30.711+01:00Blueberry CheesecakeI'm having friends for dinner tomorrow, and to save myself the strain of doing all the cooking on one day, decided to make the pudding in advance. Recipes for the remainder of the food (and photos) to follow. In the meantime, here's an extremely easy and delicious cheesecake.
You'll need:
Base and sides
125g of butter
1 cup rolled oats
100g wheatmeal biscuits, finely crushed
2 tbsps soft brownManihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-79557833510550672922010-10-24T02:49:00.000+01:002010-10-24T02:49:21.939+01:00Todas las Americas chilliHaving finally had some time away from work (which mainly means having some time away from trains up and down the country) I'm back to getting busy in the kitchen.
I had a great trip to Waitrose this afternoon to stock up on ingredients this afternoon and the rest of the week, and as a result now have the fixings for roast poussin with turnip and potato mash, dolmades, individual veggie pot piesManihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-77358998518273385972010-09-22T02:09:00.000+01:002010-09-22T02:09:35.352+01:00Lakes weekend, 2010Before moving into the new place in Newcastle, we decided to have a day's walking in the lakes. I'd not been since I was a child and after this am wondering why. We started off in Ambleside, a little town which acts as a tourist gateway.
After a long drive, we walked down to the lakehead of Windermere for a beer and to watch the sun go down. The sky was amazing.
We sat there til the sun went Manihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-43160695079430988852010-09-21T21:08:00.004+01:002010-09-21T21:17:12.522+01:00Curry-timeAfter a lovely roast chicken last night (thank you Waitrose and Nigel Slater), there was tons of meat left. I picked off most of it and then boiled the carcass for chicken stock, to freeze and form the basis for some tasty autumn soups. The best thing about a free range chicken is the amount of meat on it - I ended up throwing away some of the bits left on the bones from the stock, mainly as I Manihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-74682927417063243992010-09-20T19:51:00.001+01:002010-09-21T19:49:16.895+01:00Home, sweet homeIt's been quite some time since I've been able to blog, for a variety of reasons. The main one is that I now live in two cities, rather than one, and spend most of my contemplative downtime on trains between the two.
The new place is in Jesmond, Newcastle, right up in the North East of the country and about 300 miles from London. Thankfully the trains are swift and frequent, but it does mean Manihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-20198389062982786372010-07-06T00:43:00.005+01:002010-07-06T18:50:35.593+01:00Turning Japanese...One of the songs I had going round in my head in Japan was Turning Japanese, by the Vapors. I loved the song - whilst being mildly disturbed by it and unsure as to whether it was a bit culturally dodgy... also far too catchy for its own good.
Still, I liked much of the food we ate in Japan and became particularly fond of instant miso. I also tried a fair few things that I was sure I wouldn't Manihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-13954125378726922542010-06-24T21:13:00.003+01:002010-06-24T21:15:20.075+01:00Travels and flowersOh dear. My attempts to avoid budget airlines and becoming more-carbonly-neutral do not seem to be working out quite as planned this summer, partially because many of our favourite people live away (and my favourite band released teasing European dates without English dates...)
J's best friend Phil has been living in Delft for the last year or so. We've been over to see him once, and saw him Manihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-70003654758666978112010-06-22T22:15:00.010+01:002010-06-23T00:04:52.437+01:00Enjoying the fruits of labourAfter a weekend sorting out the house and several weekends over the last few months getting on top of the garden, I've been wandering around this evening enjoying the results.
When I start my new job at the end of July, I'm going to need somewhere to work for the two days a week or so I'll be working from home. And ta-da! A home office to be proud of. All I need now is a desk, which'll fit Manihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-48929472028502396612010-06-21T21:22:00.002+01:002010-07-06T00:32:12.626+01:00Cold and manflu cureI've always been a firm believer that what you eat impacts on your mood and health more than almost any other factor - and when faced with mopey ill partner, my thoughts immediately turn to comforting, soothing, healing food. J woke up yesterday with the beginnings of a cold. As both of us were sneezing like... well, sneezy people, what with all the dust yesterday I thought I'd give it 24 hours Manihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-39166506654612866152010-06-21T11:14:00.000+01:002010-06-21T11:55:23.151+01:00Home grownInspired by Anne and her green thumb, I thought I'd update on the house and garden.Ever since we moved into Rochester Square just over a year ago, our back pantry has been stuffed with clutter. Not just any clutter - boxes of J's psychology textbooks, bags of elderly computer equipment, camping gear and so on. Not much that we actually want to get rid of (apart from maybe a mouldy suitcase or twoManihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-58970712809267675702010-05-18T00:38:00.000+01:002010-05-18T00:56:04.555+01:00Anne's last supper - well, lunchMy friend Anne, after a number of happy years in London, announced a couple of months ago that she was moving back to Vancouver (sniff, sob). She came around to mine for a final meal before I took her to the airport. The day's challenge was to make something light enough that wouldn't make her feel too full for sitting around and waiting a while for a flight (pesky ash cloud) and would be Manihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-67566353127271907892010-03-27T23:50:00.000+00:002010-03-28T00:30:49.398+00:00Saturday night, Sunday morningThe challenge this weekend was to cook a Saturday evening meal for sister and self, followed by three course Sunday lunch with one of my best friends who has just announced she's departing these shores.After perusing Nigella, Nigel, Gordon and Delia for some inspiration, I decided that duck was the order of the day for the Saturday evening meal. I've never cooked duck before so was looking for Manihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-30178890223071176152010-03-01T01:13:00.001+00:002010-03-01T01:26:22.999+00:00Easy evening mealTonight I tried a variation on my sister's low carb standby, baked chicken with mozzarella and yummy veg. As this is to feed a non-Atkins partner, I particularly liked the fact that you don't miss a starch when making this and it's delicious. While it takes a little while to cook, it's not particularly labour intensive and you can vary it depending on what you have in the cupboard - I'm sure thisManihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-72885531366403008582010-02-18T00:07:00.000+00:002010-02-18T00:26:47.293+00:00Low carb lifestyle, here I comeThe time has come to do something. To do something about the extra two tires around my middle, my third chin and the fact I can no longer get into backless dresses without horrible shame (or in fact anything even remotely resembling a size I'd be happy to admit to in public). I guess all this cooking has come at a cost...Part of the wake up call came on our recent trip to The Gambia - not to be Manihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-35484107318627312412010-01-13T19:46:00.000+00:002010-01-13T22:09:05.769+00:00Scratch mid week mealI really, really couldn't be bothered to go to the supermarket in the snow this evening. That and the fact that I had loads of root vegetables left from Sunday's feast and thanks to some decent advice in cookery books, a reasonable store cupboard, means that a really good midweek supper is possible in about half an hour. However you do have to be either a) organised enough to make and freeze yourManihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-47290873001853769232010-01-10T19:29:00.000+00:002010-01-10T19:58:35.709+00:00Sunday lunchSo the cooking task for this weekend was a three course vegetarian lunch for five, with no lentils (that could be detected), blue cheese or mushrooms, to celebrate new year with Jonno, Anne, Ollie and Frances. I had a lovely hungover Saturday afternoon reading recipe books (my favourite way to spend an afternoon, bar virtually none...), before going with sweetcorn chowder to start with, chocolateManihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-11972791648742672812009-12-15T00:17:00.000+00:002009-12-15T00:42:51.906+00:00Scratch Sunday lunch and going ethicalJ and I went to see friends at the weekend - old housemates and assorted friends, girlfriends and boyfriends in Holloway. We turned up with wine at 1pm as requested only to find everyone very hungover and a fridge empty apart from a value chicken and some drumsticks... Miraculously not Sunday-morning hungover myself (too many Christmas parties in the week meant an early booze free-ish Saturday Manihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-38719671459859124872009-12-06T22:38:00.000+00:002009-12-06T22:48:22.498+00:00Christmas cardsA non-food blog, for once.Tonight marked the first time in my life when I've actually sent Christmas cards, properly, to all my scattered people across the planet. It's something I don't normally bother with; mainly as not many people do it, and partially because I've always thought it was a bit of a waste of resources. This year is different, somehow. Earlier this week I got to thinking about Manihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-78965863157013374552009-12-06T19:31:00.001+00:002009-12-06T21:08:18.446+00:00Ahhh, SundaysToday was a happy day - Sunday lunch with two of my best friends and the boy.My Mum always used to make a gorgeous, creamy watercress soup when I was little, but almost all of the recipes online or in my cookery books include potato, which is far too heavy if it's for a starter. I finally managed to find something uploaded by an American on allrecipes.com - great for all sorts of things. Melt 60gManihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077313931698504632.post-38461090554877349292009-11-25T23:10:00.000+00:002009-11-25T23:15:01.972+00:00Strange sources of inspiration #1 - Benugo, BFI, Southbank, LondonHaving a quiet chat and a couple of drinks with my friend Lucy this evening required a bit of mopping up, and after a big lunch at a conference, I didn't fancy much more than the soupe du jour. The title Pea and Turmeric Soup kind of put me off, I have to say - as did the presentation with four greasy croutons and a thick trace of oil across the surface of the bowl as a device to make it look Manihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15929771135676186172noreply@blogger.com1